Familiar Territory
by Lula Ripley
Summary: Crossover of Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Alias. Syd's latest mission involves the notorious Adi Birol and hits close to home for Agent Vaughn.
1. Default Chapter

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Disclaimer: Alias, Sydney Bristow, Michael Vaughn and all related components are owned by ABC and Touchstone, and were created by JJ Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. The characters of Lee and Amanda belong to Shoot the Moon Productions and Warner Brothers Entertainment. Please accept this as high praise and do not sue me. ;)  
  
Summary: Crossover of Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Alias. Syd's latest mission involves the notorious Adi Briol and hits very close to home for Vaughn.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Classification: Romance, Drama, Action/Adventure  
  
CIA Headquarters – Mid-day – Agent Vaughn's Office  
  
He looked up from his pile of paperwork and saw Weiss's familiar grin gracing his doorway. Pizza, he surmised. It must be lunchtime already.  
  
"I'm swamped, Eric," he said, before his friend could even suggest lunch. "But if you're going to Mario's, maybe you could bring me back a slice?"  
  
"Actually, I wanted to let you know that you have a visitor." Weiss sauntered in, a little full of himself.  
  
"A visitor? I don't have any appointments scheduled. Since when do we take unannounced guests?" he asked.  
  
"Maybe you could make an exception for an old friend of the family. Whatta ya say, Mikie?" a voice asked from behind Weiss.  
  
The image of the tall, sandy haired man in the doorway assaulted his senses. All at once he was ten years old again. I Hey sport, I know you're confused right now, but what you need to remember is that your father was a very brave man. Always stand by what's right, Mikie, and I promise you he'll be proud." /I  
  
"Lee." He stood quickly and made his way to the door, his hand outstretched. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Lee shook his hand firmly, but then pulled him in for a quick manly embrace, patting him on the back twice. "Can't a man visit his own godson without a good reason?"  
  
"Mikie?" Weiss snickered.  
  
"That makes its way around the office, I'll know who's closet to invade for skeletons." Vaughn gave him a punch in the arm.  
  
"I'd be careful Eric, he's stealthier than he looks."  
  
"I've no doubt, sir." Weiss said, rubbing his shoulder, then offered Lee his hand. "It's nice to have met you Agent Stetson. I think I'll be going before he attacks me again."  
  
Lee nodded his goodbye and Vaughn lead him by the shoulder into his office. "Have a seat." Once situated, Vaughn gave his godfather a suspicious look. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, but there's got to be something behind it. Right?"  
  
Lee settled into the chair with a brief sigh. "I should have come around more. Your mother and you…well, it couldn't have been easy."  
  
"You were out there doing your job. We both knew what the life of an agent was like." Vaughn said, his mouth turning up on one side in a knowing smile. "How's retirement?"  
  
"I wish I knew." Lee laughed.  
  
"What do you mean? I thought you handed in your badge."  
  
"You would have thought that I would have been the one they had to pry away from his desk, but Amanda, well, she decided she wasn't ready to go back to being a full-time housewife." Lee smiled at the thought of his wife. "We were three weeks into our first real vacation in the Caribbean when she dropped the bombshell on me. We were going back in."  
  
"You're both back?"  
  
"Part-time…you might call us consultants." He grinned.  
  
"So this is official." Vaughn toyed with the coin on his desk.  
  
Lee looked down at his godson's hand; the light caught the glint of gold from the coin. "That is eerie."  
  
"What?" Vaughn placed the coin down flat on his desk.  
  
"Your dad, he used to do the same damn thing. I can't tell you how many times when we were sitting out on a stakeout, I'd find him running a silver dollar through his fingers."  
  
Vaughn smiled. He never knew the habit had been inherited. It pleased him to know there was a bit of his dad in him. "So," he said, "are you going to stop changing the subject and fill me in on why you're in LA?"  
  
"SD-6," Lee said, suddenly very serious.  
  
Vaughn got suddenly tense. "SD-6? I don't know…"  
  
"It's ok, Mikie, Devlin's given us full clearance." He shoved a piece of paper across the desk.  
  
Inspecting it, Vaughn saw that Lee's credentials were in order. "What do you have?"  
  
"Back in the late 80's Amanda and I crossed paths with one Adi Birol."  
  
"The leader of the Karbala," Vaughn interjected.  
  
"That's him."  
  
"I remember the ordeal you went through when he held Amanda captive, but you finally put him away." Vaughn said.  
  
"He's out. Got some kind of obsession with an ancient philosopher scientist named…"  
  
"Rimbaldi," Vaughn finished.  
  
"I read the file. I see your Agent Bristow managed to get quite a few pieces of the Rimbaldi puzzle for SD-6 and the CIA."  
  
Vaughn fought the color rising in his face at the mention of Sydney's name. "Yes, SD-6 now has the clock, but they don't know how it works."  
  
"Birol may have the key. We believe SD-6 is going to try and buy it from him. He's anxious to rebuild the Karbala, now that the focus is off his extremists and onto Bin Laden's he's feeling pretty secure. A bankroll from SD-6 would make the Karbala equally as dangerous, if not more so than Al Qaida."  
  
Vaughn sat in stunned amazement. He knew SD-6 was capable of unspeakable acts, but he never imagined they could fund something as extreme as the Karbala. "So you need Syd…Agent Bristow to intercept the money and get the key."  
  
Lee raised an eyebrow at Vaughn's slip. "I…know you're concerned for your agent, Mikie, but certainly you can see the necessity."  
  
"She's not going to be able to pull this off alone." Vaughn stated matter- of-factly.  
  
"No," Lee agreed, "she's not. You'll be going with her. Amanda and I will be your eyes and ears."  
  
"Going with her?" Vaughn asked, stunned. "Devlin approved this? It's unheard of, a handler being seen in public with his agent."  
  
"This is an exception. Birol knows Amanda and I, he'd spot us in a second. Maybe you'd prefer we use another agent?"  
  
"No," he said, a little too quickly. "That is, I know Sydney and the case. It makes sense that I should be the one to back her up."  
  
"Good. You know Amanda and I are partners." Lee smiled. "And as much as I hate the idea of her being within 500 square miles of Birol, she's a pro and I want her in my corner. I have the feeling Agent Bristow will feel the same about you."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sydney walked carefully through the empty bungalow. Though it was on their list of coded meeting places, Vaughn had never used it before. When neared the kitchen she was shocked to see it full of people. Maybe she had the wrong address?  
  
She had not been noticed, so she decided to turn and make her way out. Surely, the CIA had made a mistake. Then she heard her name.  
  
"Sydney." It was Vaughn, she was sure of it. When she turned, she saw his form right away, standing against an island in the kitchen, looking more at home and comfortable than she'd ever seen him in all their time together. He was smiling and seemed to be very at ease with the two strangers. "Come in, let me introduce you."  
  
She walked carefully into the room, unsure of the strangers and of Vaughn's sudden mood adjustment. "What's going on?"  
  
The strange couple just looked at her and smiled, then glanced at Vaughn for introductions. Now all eyes were on him.  
  
"Agent Bristow, Agents Lee Stetson and Amanda King." Vaughn couldn't seem to suppress a grin.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Agent Bristow. I've read a great deal about your work within SD-6." Sydney turned a worried eye to Vaughn, but Lee continued. "It's alright, we've gotten clearance."  
  
Amanda shouldered past the men and offered Sydney her hand. "Just call me Amanda, Sydney is it? It appears this next counter-mission of yours is going to be a group effort. I hope you won't mind the company."  
  
"Vaughn?" Sydney asked, worrying her lip. This wasn't protocol. It wasn't safe. And frankly, these too were a little to relaxed for field agents. Not to mention they had apparently replaced Vaughn with a laid back double.  
  
"It's ok," he assured her. "Sydney, Lee is my godfather and my father's former partner… and Amanda is his partner and wife."  
  
"His wife?" She wasn't sure what intrigued her more. Adding two new agents to the mix, the fact that they were related to Vaughn or that this man and his partner were married. What must that be like? To be married to someone who knows all your secrets. She eyed Vaughn, but this time it wasn't skepticism she saw there, but potential.  
  
"It's true," Amanda said. "Almost sixteen years now."  
  
"Almost didn't happen though," Lee interrupted, taking his wife's hand tenderly. I almost lost her at the hands of that madman Birol."  
  
"As in Adi Birol?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Yes, he's the reason we're all here." Vaughn said.  
  
"Sloane just gave me orders to meet him at this exclusive resort in Negril, the day after tomorrow. Some kind of trade."  
  
Vaughn grabbed her gently by the forearm and pulled her toward the living room. "Why don't we all have a seat?"  
  
Sydney still looked at him as though his face was green. This scenario didn't make sense. Using outside operatives on a counter-mission was unheard of.  
  
They all took a seat in the minimally decorated living room. There were three pieces of furniture in the large space: a love seat, a sofa and an end table. Amanda and Lee took the love seat. Sydney sat on one end of the sofa and Vaughn perched on the edge of the middle. This couple intrigued her. It was fascinating to watch them together. Amanda's hand rested gently near the crook of her husband's elbow her other hand wrapped securely around his back as he laid out plans on the coffee table.  
  
It was then that she noticed Vaughn. He was looking at the man with such respect and attentiveness, some faint glimpse of awe in his eyes. She'd seen him interact with his officials before, but this was different. Clearly, he admired Lee Stetson. Of course, the man was his godfather and his father's partner, anyone coming in contact with Vaughn stock would have to be admirable. Perhaps Vaughn saw something of his dad in Lee.  
  
"Sydney?" Lee asked.  
  
"Hmm?" She took her glance away from Vaughn and faced him, embarrassed that she had been staring at her handler. "Yes?"  
  
"I was asking about your rendezvous with Birol," he continued. "What is the timetable?"  
  
"I'm to check in at the Half Moon Club at noon, play the role of the tourist, blend into the sand…I'll be wearing a very specific outfit. The man is a real slime, he's insisted picking out the bikini so he can recognize me." Vaughn raises and eyebrow and this and I wonder if it's about Birol's fetish or something else entirely. "I will be given coordinates to a specific location on the island where I am to retrieve the key and drop the cash."  
  
Amanda leans across the coffee table and gives her a concerned look, the look of a mother. "Sydney, you must be very careful with Birol. If he suspects you are not who you say you are, I guarantee he will not be kind."  
  
Lee puts his arm around Amanda and takes her hand with his free one, kissing it lightly. Clearly Birol has inflicted some scars on them both.  
  
Lee turned from his wife long enough to look at Sydney and say, "This is why Mikie's going with you."  
  
"What?" Sydney stood up and looked down at her handler. "You can't go with me. It's not safe."  
  
"Devlin approved it." He stood to meet her, sensing her frustration. "Lee and Amanda will be there as well, listening in and making sure Birol doesn't get very far. I know it's not protocol Sydney, but this is not your average counter-mission. We all need to work together on this one. You trust me, don't you?"  
  
Amanda watched the exchange between the agent and her handler. Did she trust him? She's asked herself the same question of Lee only once and the answer hand never changed. Always and in everything. There was something familiar between Michael and Sydney Bristow, something that brought back vivid memories of a spy peeking in her kitchen window. She grasped Lee's hand tighter and they shared a look that told her he was thinking the very same thing.  
  
"I trust you, Vaughn." IAlways and in everything/I, she added silently. 


	2. Chapter Two

FAMILIAR TERRITORY  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"I trust you, Vaughn," she said. And it is as if she is telling me far more. For a moment, no one else exists in the room…the world, as Sydney Bristow looks up into my steady gaze and tells me everything with only four brief words.  
  
A shrill sound shatters the illusion. Everyone in the room looks to their person to see "who" is ringing. Sydney pulls out a cell phone and shows it to us… "Personal line," she says apologetically.  
  
Lee and Amanda nod in understanding, while I walk a few paces away to give her privacy. Of course, I can still hear every word.  
  
"Hello?" Pause. "Oh, Francie, I'm so sorry." She glances at her watch. "Just give me…" she looks at all of us helplessly. "Twenty minutes, less if I can manage it." Sydney's face falls, I can see she's upset. "No… don't say that. You know this wedding is important to me. Fifteen minutes, I promise."  
  
Sydney turns back to face us, taking a deep breath first, her graceful shoulders rising high and falling fast. "I'm supposed to be in a boutique getting a final fitting on my gown for Francie's wedding. Can we continue this later?"  
  
Amanda stands and walks towards Sydney. There is such a nurturing essence to my godfather's wife, as if she can't stand to see anyone struggling with something without trying to fix it herself. "I have an idea." She takes Sydney's hand and walks toward the front door, she knows how important time is. "Why don't I join you? We can talk on the way and I'll fill you in on where we are with Birol."  
  
Sydney looks concerned, but also strangely relieved. "How?"  
  
"Well," Amanda offers. "Let's see…maybe you could introduce me as an Aunt or an old friend of the family."  
  
I cringe inwardly, knowing what kind of old friends Sydney's parents would have. She however, seems to let the comment roll right off her.  
  
"Why not?" she smiles. "I could use a second opinion on this dress anyway."  
  
Lee laughs. "I wonder which will take longer? The briefing on the international terrorist or the dress fitting."  
  
I can't suppress my own laughter as the women try to look piqued. I can't miss the subtle signs of Sydney's smile and the small indentations where her dimples are in serious threat of showing.  
  
Amanda crosses quickly to her husband and places a quick kiss on his cheek. "Why don't the two of you meet us for dinner. Chinese at your place Mikie?"  
  
I'm taken aback. Dinner with Sydney at my apartment? Is that even possible? Just a week ago we were watching old reruns over the phone and risking who knows what to see La Traviata together from a distance. Now she would be my guest.  
  
"I'll make a call and have someone sweep my apartment," I hear myself saying. A raised glance at Sydney reveals that she is as shocked at the idea as I am. But is her shock because it's me or because it's beyond protocol? And why didn't Amanda and Lee visit a long time ago?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Amanda and I enter the boutique in a rush. Francie catches sight of me instantly and rushes forward in her wedding gown, unbustled train flying behind her.  
  
"Thank god, I thought I was going to have to go through this alone." Francie hugs me quick and whispers in my ear. "My mother-in-law is driving me insane."  
  
Suddenly, she is very aware of the woman at my side, her brow creases in confusion, but she doesn't quite know how to ask. Amanda is all smiles.  
  
"Francie, this is my Aunt Amanda…"  
  
"Keen," Amanda puts out her hand. "Amanda Keen, and aren't you a beautiful bride."  
  
Francie is still utterly confused.  
  
"I'm afraid Sydney's lateness is all my fault. I showed up unannounced and put her all off schedule."  
  
I'm amazed as Francie seems to not only accept Amanda's story but genuinely seems to open up to her almost instantly. "Two for the price of one," she says, and pulls us both toward the dressing area. "There's strength in numbers, right?. Let's see if we can convince her that I really don't have to carry the gaudy purse handed down from her great-grandmother."  
  
I squeeze her hand in response, but Amanda goes one step further. "This is your day, my dear on your terms. God willing, you only get one wedding. Don't let anyone stop you from doing it your way."  
  
Francie and I both take a moment to look at Amanda. She is this strange combination of mother and best friend, woman and spy.  
  
"Amanda, I think I'm going to adopt you during this process as my surrogate mom," Francie jokes and leads us behind the velvet curtain.  
  
If only there were a wizard on the other side… I'd ask him for the same thing. Amanda King is everything I'd always wished my own mother might have been.  
  
On the drive back to Vaughn's I'm terribly quiet. Too quiet for someone with a virtual stranger sitting next to her, someone I should be entertaining.  
  
"You have a good friend in Francie," Amanda says, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yes," I agree. "She the best."  
  
"It must be hard to keep so many secrets from her."  
  
I feel tears rise and pool in my eyes, but I can't explain it. I quickly brush away a few drops that escape, trying vainly to sober. "I'm sorry. It's just, except for Vaughn, no one else has ever known just how hard it is."  
  
"I know." Amanda nods and places a gentle hand on my sleeve. "For many years, the only one I had to confide in…the only one who knew all my secrets was Lee."  
  
"You've got to tell me your secret, Amanda. I don't know how you did it for all those years."  
  
"Well, it's easy, I had Lee." She said the last with such pride and love I am overwhelmed with jealously. How wonderful to have such a confident, but also be able to love him so purely. "I see a lot of him in his godson."  
  
Was she hinting at something? But the truth was… "So do I."  
  
"Be strong, Sydney. You'll do what's right. I read your dossier. I know what you've been through. I'm pretty darn confident that when it comes to making the right choices, you'll have no problems. You can trust Michael. In time, you might even learn to trust others."  
  
Exactly what's in that dossier, I wonder. "He's the only one…at least for now. And unfortunately, it's not exactly CIA protocol for us to get personal. He's already been reprimanded for our unorthodox relationship."  
  
Amanda laughs out loud at this and I wonder what could possibly be so funny.  
  
"Well, while I can't lay claim to double agent status or anything near as mercenary as SD-6, I can tell you that when it came to unorthodox behavior Lee and I cornered the market. A housewife and a spy don't exactly jive in any standard issue espionage manuals. And well… we let our feelings affect a good many of our cases together…but I'll tell you something, Sydney. I'd rather go in to any dangerous situation with an intelligence man with a heart than the tin men alternative the agency seems to want to pump out these days."  
  
I'm amazed at the clarity she's managed to bring to my life all in less than two hours. I'm not alone. I have Vaughn and suddenly I know that I've also got Lee and Amanda. And together, we are going to get Adi Birol.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I pace the apartment, waiting for Weiss to finish the sweep. Lee enters the kitchen and hands me a bottle of beer.  
  
"Mikie, you're going to wear down the tile. The place is clean. Weiss is just giving it a second go over."  
  
I stop my thirtieth trip from breakfast bar to range and take a sip of the beer. "I know it's clean. I checked it myself just…" Just last week, I admit silently, when I thought of asking Sydney over after the opera. Of course, I never had the guts to follow it through.  
  
"Mikie, before the ladies get here, why don't we lay the cards out on the table, huh? I spent three years doing exactly the same thing your doing now. Denial is not just a river in Egypt my son." He pats me on the arm and I know where he's going with this. "You care about Sydney."  
  
His comment is inappropriately timed as Weiss has just entered the room, clearly having heard every word. He turns on his heel and walk back in the other direction, offering as he leaves, "Don't waste your breath Lee…he's the king of the Bristow forest, yet can't seem to see a single tree."  
  
"Sweep!" I roar.  
  
"Done." Weiss pokes his head back in the kitchen. "It's spotless."  
  
"Good," I say a little perturbed. "Now get on your broomstick and fly on outta here."  
  
Weiss does a wicked witch imitation and disappears from view.  
  
"Mikie…"  
  
"Lee, there's nothing to talk about. Syd… Agent Bristow is my responsibility. I'm her handler. End of story."  
  
"Your father was a bad liar too," Lee said. "Thank god the affliction only surfaced in matters of the heart."  
  
"Fine," I spit out. "You want me to tell you I care about her, it's true. I do. I worry every time she goes out on a mission. I hate that she's got to spend one millisecond of time in the presence of that madman Sloane. I keep finding myself drawn to her neighborhood when I know it would be a national security risk if I was seen. I want to share things with her, petty things, things that friends share, but I can't because one slip could mean her life."  
  
"You love her."  
  
"No!" Denial again. What else can I do? If I deny it enough then eventually maybe I'll begin to believe it. "It's not possible for me to love Sydney Bristow."  
  
The look on Lee's face alters drastically. Concern shadows over him and I hear a throat clear behind me. I know without turning that Amanda and Sydney are in the room.  
  
What have I done?  
  
--end part 2--  
  
(R&R please!) 


End file.
